WRITING LESBIAN FICTION, SCIENCE FICTION, AND FANTASY, SINCE THE 20TH CENTURY

My-One-And-Only-Post-NaNoWriMo Post

Any minute now the blog-o-sphere is going to be swamped with NaNoWriMo posts – what people did, and didn’t do to make their goals, what they learned about themselves, how they would do it differently next time, and what they are going to do next … so I’m going to get ahead of the crowd and do mine first.

What I did: I did make the 50,000 word count, in spite of two weeks off in the middle, and I NEVER want to write like that again!

What I didn’t do: I didn’t do a detailed enough outline. I spent too much time looking out the window, thinking, (out loud) “What the f*** happens next?” and, “Where did that character come from?”

I suspect Widdercat, banished from cuddles for the entire time, partly because of my radiation treatment, and partly because I have not mastered single-handed typing, had a paw in the sudden surprise appearance of characters who wanted the entire story to themselves. Kitty revenge! … If I had the whole month, this might not have been such a problem – the outlining, not Widdercat.

What I learned about myself: I have a writing style that is not suited to the pursuit of quantity only. I edit as I go, not a lot with a first draft, but more than is compatible with ‘the need for speed’.

What I would do differently next time: Apart constructing a more detailed outline and not having two weeks off? If I decide to do it next year, not much else.

Cool! 50K is a mighty huuuuuuuge feat. Congrats! I signed up two days late, wrote one day’s worth, came back the second day and said later which eventually became not ever. I knew before I signed up that I couldn’t write that way, but I deluded myself that maybe I could. LOL

😀 There were times I wanted to do that myself, that’s for sure! One of my all-time favourite quotes is from ‘The Gambler’ – you’ve got to know when to hold ’em, know when to fold ’em, know when to walk away, and know when to play solitaire!’

Dear Widdershins,
Congratulations! I planned to do Nanowrimo this year, but changed my mind. When I first did Nano, I discovered that not worrying about punctuation put me in a post Nano dilemma. I didn’t know who said what because I didn’t put quotation marks or who said what.

The next time I did it, I split my work up between different works I had already started. I bothered with punctuation and I was a happier person while writing and also while revising.

“Finish the story, it’s only half written” … This is why I have not done Nano. I appreciate the concept, but since I write very regularly, I don’t need the “push” to keep going. And when I’m done (usually in 1.5-two months) I’d rather have a viable first draft then something that is not really complete. I’d much rather spend an extra two weeks writing, and a few LESS months editing.